Welcome to the March 2011 edition of Maverick Science E-News. This monthly e-newletter provides information about College of Science events involving students, alumni, faculty and staff. To contribute items for inclusion, please send an email to pederson@uta.edu. If possible, please include a high-resolution headshot photo of those mentioned in your items.

Roundtable, speech by scientist Bill Nye kick off
2011 Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students

A special fund has been created to honor
the memory of Dr. Andrew Baum, professor of Psychology and beloved member of the UT Arlington family, who died on Nov. 22, 2010. Donations to the fund may be mailed to: UTA College of Science/Dr. Andy Baum Memorial Fund
P.O. Box 19047
Arlington, TX 76019

Calendar of events

Saturday, March 26 Memorial service for Dr. James Kopp
1 - 4 p.m., Japanese Gardens pavilion, Fort Worth Botanical Gardens A service celebrating the life of longtime UT Arlington psychology professor James Kopp, who died Nov. 19.

Monday, April 4 - Friday, April 8 UT Arlington Science Week A full week of special events celebrating the College of Science. More details coming soon!

Wednesday, April 13 Health Professions Day 12-2 p.m., University Center Students can receive information from a variety of medical schools and health profession institutions.

The Planetarium at
UT Arlington UT Arlington's planetarium, one of the finest in the nation, offers a variety of exciting shows and programs year-round and is now equipped with Digistar 4, the latest in planetarium software. The new Spring 2011 schedule has been released; see details here.

Read the latest edition of Maverick ScienceThe Fall 2010 edition of Maverick Science Magazine is here. The magazine includes features on College of Science faculty, students alumni, as well as the latest news on what's happening in science at UT Arlington. Pick up a free print version in the Dean's Office (Life Science Room 206) or read the online version here.

College of Science
T-shirts are here The new College of Science
T-shirts are here, and they're only $10 each! They're shortsleeve, 100% cotton, with a small College of Science- UT Arlington logo on the front and a full color logo on the back. Available in S, M, L and XL. Available in the Dean's Office in Life Science Room 206.

Follow the College of Science on FacebookKeep up with the College of Science on Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world! 'Like' our page and learn about the latest College of Science news and events on campus. Find our page here.

Nye

Science educator, author, comedian and television host Bill Nye "the Science Guy" participated in a roundtable discussion Wednesday
with UT Arlington faculty members moderated by College of Science
Dean Pamela Jansma as part of the Annual Celebration of
Excellence by Students (ACES) symposium.
Nye also delivered a talk as part of the Maverick Speaker Series
Wednesday night at a sold-out Texas Hall.
The 2001 ACES symposium –- which showcases the best of UT Arlington
students' research and creativity -- was held Thursday, March
24 at the E.H. Hereford University Center. Students made oral
and poster presentations throughout the day, which were judged by a panel of faculty
members. A reception and awards ceremony concluded the day's events.
More on Nye's visit and results from the 2011 ACES symposium will be posted soon on the College of Science website. For more on ACES, click here.

The Engineering Research Building, which was completed in December, was dedicated with a ceremony March 4 which included a ribbon-cutting and self-guided tours of the new, $126 million facility.

A new era in innovation and collaboration was celebrated Friday, March 4 with the formal dedication of the University's new Engineering Research Building (ERB), a $126 million, 234,000-square-foot structure which will offer myriad opportunities for scientists, engineers and computer scientists to work together to create new technology and solve problems for decades to come.
Officials from the University and the UT System as well as members of the community were on hand for the dedication, which included comments, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and self-guided tours of the sprawling facility, which was completed in December and opened in January.
Speakers included UT Arlington President James D. Spaniolo; state Sen. Chris Harris, who represents Senate District 9; U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, who represents the 6th District of Texas; College of Science Dean Pamela Jansma and College of Engineering Dean Bill Carroll.
Following a ribbon-cutting, guests took self-guided tours of the facility, with many of the building's labs open and researchers on hand to answer questions.
Read more on the ERB dedication here.

Science Week set for April 4-8, will put spotlight on achievements and opportunities in COS

The College of Science will celebrate the education
and research which have made it one of the state’s leaders in the advancement of science during the first annual Science Week, April 4-8. A variety of activities is planned to spotlight the students, alumni and faculty of the College of Science and their accomplishments in education, research and industry.
Among the events and activities planned are a showing of “Violent Universe” at the Planetarium at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 5. All UT Arlington students, alumni, faculty and staff will be admitted free with their Maverick ID. The show is also open to the general public at regular prices.
The following day, at 12 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, the Science Constituency Council will host a Dean’s Forum featuring Dean of Science Pamela Jansma during a joint meeting with the Medical Dental Preparatory Association in Life Sciences Room 119.
On Thursday, April 7, UT Arlington Distinguished Alumnus Thaddeus Arroyo (B.S. Mathematics ’86) will speak to students in Mathematics about his experiences as Chief Information Officer for AT&T’s nationwide operations.

UT Arlington named as one of 25 U.S. hosts of 2011
Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp

ExxonMobil Foundation and Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr., the first African-American to walk in space, are partnering for the sixth consecutive year to provide middle school youth
with a fun, engaging math and science experience this summer at no cost to students.
UT Arlington has again been selected as
one of 25 universities
from around the nation to host the ExxonMobil
Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp. The camp is made possible by an $80,000 grant to the College of Science from the ExxonMobil Foundation and Dr. Harris, through his The Harris Foundation. The two-week residential camp will be held at UT Arlington July
17-29.
"UT Arlington is proud to be a part of a program that has such a significant impact on our local students," said Greg Hale, assistant dean of science. "We believe the knowledge our students gain during the camp will increase their passion for science and math throughout their lives."
One of the largest programs of its kind, the camps offer students the unique opportunity to replace the lazy days of summer with field work, experiments and team-based competitions. Each activity is designed to spur interest in math and science and reach students from school districts around the country.
UT Arlington is taking applications for the camp now through April 8. For requirements and instructions on how to apply, please visit http://www.uta.edu/cos/sciencecamp/.

Tim Henry, assistant dean of the Honors College and lecturer in biology, is helping to organize a pair of Summer Study Abroad opportunities for Honors College students in England.
The first is a SCIE 4192 Selected Topics in Science course titled "Science: Discovery and Impact", taught by Henry, and the second is an ENGL 3300 Topics in English class titled "Place and English Poetry", taught by Kevin Gustafson, Honors College associate dean. Travel will include stops in London and five other British cities between May 24-June 14. The course runs from May 17-June 30.
The courses are designed to provide students an integral educational experience of England from both literary and scientific perspectives, with travel to historically prominent places that inspired poetic and scientific significance in the study of Anglo-human emergence.
See more information here, or contact Dr. Henry or Dr. Gustafson.

News from Samar Mohanty, assistant professor of physics, and the Biophysics and Physiology Group:
· Graduate students Ninad Ingle and Shivaranjani Shivalingaiah received Newport-Spectra Physics Research Excellence award at the SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco in January. Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Ling Gu and undergraduate student Nelson Cardenas received an SPIE officer's travel grant and an SPIE travel grant, respectively. Graduate student Mervyn Pinto received a Wells Fargo Scholarship to attend the conference. Mohanty, Cardenas, Ingle, Shivalingaiah, Pinto and Gu presented 15 talks and four posters at the conference.
· Mohanty and his fellow researchers had 19 papers published in the February edition of Proceedings of SPIE, the conference record of the SPIE.
· Mohanty presented an invited colloquium on "Photons Take Control of Structure and Function of Living and Nonliving Materials" at Texas Tech University in November. He also presented an invited seminar at the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at the Indiana University School of Medicine in December.
· Graduate student Annas Javed received a travel award to attend the Biophysical Society 55th Annual Meeting in Baltimore on March 5-9. Mohanty, along with Gu and graduate student Aswini Kanneganti presented on Deep brain optogenetic stimulation using Bessel beam, Controlled photo-electro-thermal generation of microbubble for manipulation of cells, and Photothermal poration of cells using carbon nanoparticles.
· Ingle, Pinto and Cardenas received Student Travel Awards to the Texas Section American Physical Society meeting in San Antonio in October and presented three talks there.

News from Martin Pomerantz, professor of chemistry and biochemistry:
· Nissanke Dassanayake, who was a postdoctoral associate with Pomerantz (1977-81) and a former consultant for Alcon Laboratories, presented a talk to the UTA Chemistry and Biochemistry Society entitled "Views and Perspective in the Pharmaceutical Industry" on Feb. 28.
· Pomerantz presented a paper entitled "Intra- and intermolecular interactions in bi- and terthiophenes: structural implications," coauthored with former UTA graduate student Dr. Nashaat Turkman, at the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem 2010) in Honolulu, HI, in December.
· Pomerantz presented a talk entitled "Polythiophenes, LEDs and Model Compounds" at Tarrant County College-South Campus on Feb. 25 as part of their NSF sponsored project "AACCESS: Arlington Academy for Community College Exceptional Students in Science." This is a joint grant with physics professor Ramon Lopez, PI, Pomerantz, co-PI and Gary Smith, Dean of Science and Technology, Tarrant County College-Northeast, co-PI.

Members of the Science Constituency Council decorated a golf cart with a science theme and carried the banner for the College of Science in the annual UT Arlington Homecoming Golf Cart Parade on Feb. 25. Students involved in preparing the cart and/or participating in the parade include Mary Baker, Liz Chen, Christopher Coté, Rana Elkassih, Cecelia Mendez, Rebecca Meza, Alex Mowery,Hiep Hoang Nguyen, and Hannah Webber.

Hu receives grants for research on transport of natural gas in Barnett Shale, uranium geochemistry

Qinhong "Max" Hu and members of his lab group.

· Earth and Environmental Sciences assistant professor Qinhong (Max) Hu has been awarded a $457,891 grant by Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America to study gas transport in the Barnett shale.Hu's proposal, entitled by "Integrated Experimental and Modeling Approaches to Studying the Fracture-Matrix Interaction in Gas Recovery from Barnett Shale", began in October and will evaluate the implications of low pore space connectivity, particularly in the fracture-matrix interaction, on low gas recovery in fractured shale. For more about Hu's research, see his lab website here.
· Hu is also principal investigator for a $110,264 Department of Energy grant to examine the effects of pore-scale physics on uranium geochemistry in Hanford sediments. Hu will perform the laboratory experiments in collaboration with Robert "Toby" Ewing of Iowa State University (with a separate funding of $40,000), who will conduct pore-scale network modeling. Findings from this 2-year exploratory grant could lead to full research grants.
· Hu and Ewing collaborated with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) scientist Chongxuan Liu to develop models of the microscopic transfer of uranium into and out of porous material. They investigated diffusion in microenvironments and developed approaches to scale microscopic mass transfer to larger systems. Their work is highlighted in the "2010 All News Highlights" newsletter of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. See the story here.

Epperson delivers keynote address at Conference on Teaching of Mathematics 6-12 at SHSU

Epperson

James Epperson, associate professor of mathematics, was the invited keynote speaker for the "Conference on the Teaching of Mathematics 6-12" held at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville on February 18-19. His talk was entitled "Mathematics Teachers as Learners: What Do We See, Ask, and Do?" The theme of the conference was Making Sense of Mathematics, and the event featured a wide variety of topics for junior high and high school levels. For Epperson's webpage, click here.

Grover's research on golden algae blooms featured in Texas Water Resources Institute magazine

Grover

Research by a team comprised of UT Arlington biology professor James Grover, Daniel Roelke of Texas A&M University and Bryan Brooks of Baylor University is featured in the Winter 2011 edition of txH20, the magazine of the Texas Water Resources Institute, as well as in a special edition of the magazine. The study by Grover and his colleagues, the Lake Granbury and Lake Whitney Assessment Initiative, focused on the biology and ecology of golden algae (Prymnesium parvum) in Texas lakes. The algae has caused major fish kills in river systems around the state. The research led Grover and colleagues to discover three approaches to lake management that seem to work in preventing or reducing golden algae blooms in Lake Granbury. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Read the story online here.

Schug addresses myths of electrospray ionization in European chromatography newsletter

Schug

Kevin Schug, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was interviewed for LCGC Europe E-News, which is devoted to chromatography news. Schug addressed a few myths that surround electrospray ionization (ESI), including why "less is more" for successful separations. read the interview here. Also in the e-newsletter is a feature on a blog Schug writes for regularly, CHROMmunity, a forum and networking site for chromatographers.

Yan Li, assistant professor of mathematics, is co-PI, along with Mario Romero-Ortega, associate professor of bioengineering (PI) and Youngtae Kim, assistant professor of bioengineering (co-PI), on a recent joint $2.2 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant to further the development of technology that will allow amputees to naturally control and feel bionic limbs. The three-year grant is for their project titled "Cellular and molecular contribution to signal instability in peripheral regenerative neurointerfaces."

The College of Science and the College of Education and Health Professions and Health Professions (COEHP) have been awarded a $200,000 extension to their Math, Science and Technology Teacher Preparation Academy grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). Dr. Ann Cavallo, (PI), professor of Science Education and associate dean for Teacher and Professional Education in COEHP, and Dr. Greg Hale, (co-PI), assistant dean for Science Education in the College of Science, were originally awarded $350,000 under this program in October 2008. The funding primarily provides scholarships for practicing middle and high school science teachers to pursue master's degrees. In addition, the College of Science received a $25,000 grant from ExxonMobil to extend the Science Ambassadors program through August.